US Attorney General Jeff Sessions slams state’s sanctuary laws

Groups from across the Bay Area march down J Street outside the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel to protest the appearance of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a conference in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, March 7, 2018.
Laura A. Oda — Bay Area News Group

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at the 26th Annual Law Enforcement Legislative Day hosted by the California Peace Officers’ Association in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Sessions announced that the federal government is suing California over its immigration laws.
Anda Chu — Bay Area News Group

SACRAMENTO >> U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered a pointed speech condemning California’s sanctuary laws, announcing a lawsuit challenging them and vilifying the Oakland mayor for her controversial warning of immigration raids last month.

An hour later and four blocks away, Governor Jerry Brown delivered his own firebrand reaction as his state remains firmly in the cross hairs of President Donald Trump’s administration.

“This is a political stunt. It’s more like Fox News and what’s going on in Washington,” he said Wednesday. “We know the Trump administration is full of liars.”

Sessions spoke at an annual state law enforcement event just hours after the United States filed suit against California over three of its new immigration laws aimed at thwarting Trump’s immigration agenda.

“Federal agents must be able to do that job that Congress has directed them to do. We’re not asking California or Oakland to effectively enforce immigration laws … although we’d certainly like that,” Sessions said in his speech. “They’re not backing down, not going to be deterred and we’re not going to stop enforcing the law.”

He said politicians, like Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, were trying to “score political points on the backs of officer safety.”

Late last month, the mayor warned residents of an imminent raid by federal immigration agents, drawing harsh criticism from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the White House. ICE director Thomas Homan, who accused the mayor of tipping off criminals, also announced that the Department of Justice would launch a “review” of the mayor’s actions.

Sessions excoriated Schaaf in his speech, repeatedly blasting her immigration raid warning, citing Homan’s comments that more than 800 criminals were able to avoid arrest because of the mayor’s actions.

“So here’s my message for Mayor Schaaf: How dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical open borders agenda,” Sessions said. He also attacked Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for “bragging about the obstruction of law enforcement.” He called it an “embarrassment for the great state of California.”

In a Breitbart interview Wednesday, Sessions confirmed that his department would review Schaaf’s actions.

“We look forward to reviewing the facts as they present them to our attorneys. But I couldn’t comment beyond that,” he said.

Advertisement

During Sessions’ speech, Schaaf posted a tweet touting Oakland’s violent crime rate, saying it has dropped over the last five years.

Schaaf stood her ground. “My response to the attorney general’s statements … How dare you vilify members of our community,” she said Wednesday.

“This is completely unprecedented. For the chief law enforcement (officer) of the United States to come out here and engage in a political stunt, to make wild accusations, many of which are based on outright lies, that’s unusual,” Brown said. “Particularly a fellow coming from Alabama talking to us about secession and protecting human and civil rights. I do think that this is pure red meat for the base, and I would assume — but this is pure speculation — that Jeff thinks that Donald will be happier with him, and I’m sure Donald will be tweeting his joy at this particular performance. But it’s not about law enforcement; it’s not about justice and it really demeans the high office to which he has been appointed.”

But Brown, a former Oakland mayor for whom Schaaf once worked as an aide, refused to comment on Sessions’ statements about Schaaf — or on the mayor’s actions, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to weigh in.

Additional reaction was swift. While some in the audience applauded others remained silent.

And Yolo County Ed Prieto — who is seeking re-election — reaffirmed that he has not changed his policies or practices in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to deport alleged illegal immigrants “nor have we been directed to do so.

“The primary focus of this agency is public safety, and it is imperative that we maintain the trust of the public as we work toward keeping the residents of this county safe,” Prieto said in a prepared statement. “It is counterproductive to have groups of people fearful of our deputies simply because of their immigration status. We view immigrant communities as people we are sworn to serve and protect, and our patrol deputies do not participate in immigration enforcement.”

Prieto also said the Sheriff’s Office “does not hold any inmate past his or her scheduled release date without a legal warrant signed by a federal judge. To do so would be a violation of law.”

“The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office will continue to respect and abide by the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the State of California,” he added.

Sessions’ lawsuit hits directly on Senate Bill 54 — the centerpiece of California’s “resistance” on immigration — which aims to prevent state and local police officers from helping to carry out the president’s promised crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Assembly Bill 450 requires an employer to ask for proper court documents before allowing immigration agents access to the workplace or to employee information. And a provision in a budget trailer bill establishes a state review process for immigration detention centers that contract with ICE.

A few dozen protesters gathered on the sidewalk Wednesday outside the downtown hotel where Sessions spoke, chanting and holding signs saying “Crush ICE” and “First They Came For Immigrants.” Some marched through the streets.

As the protest grew, police rerouted traffic from the J Street exit ramp to avoid the area. And as Sessions spoke, authors of the new laws in question — Senate Leader Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco — joined the peaceful demonstration outside the hotel. The two lawmakers, along with state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who carried legislation last year on immigration detention centers, held their own news conference to denounce the federal counter-strike, calling it a bullying political stunt that lacked legal merit.

“California will not be bowed,” De León said. “We shall see Mr. Sessions in court. Based upon the U.S. Department of Justice’s track record in court, quite frankly, I like our odds.”

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said the trust between the immigrant community and law enforcement is “critical” for public safety.

“This lawsuit is a misguided waste of federal resources — much like the Administration’s indiscriminate approach to immigration enforcement that has entangled hard-working residents, including the recent deportation of a Bay Area nurse and mother of three,” he said. “Wasting time and energy on politically-driven lawsuits will do nothing to make our communities safer.”

Jon Rodney, spokesman for the California Immigrant Policy Center which has an office in Oakland, called Sessions’ speech and lawsuit an “attempt at political retaliation.”

“It was full of really hateful sentiments and anti-immigrant sentiments that have no place in a state that believes in equality and compassion,” Rodney said. “I think that people are very committed to continuing to stand up for the humanity of everyone who lives here in California — in the streets, in the courthouses and the halls of government.”

The attorney general’s trip to California to announce the federal lawsuit has further roiled tensions between California and Washington over immigration policy.

For over a year, ICE and the Department of Justice have issued warnings to cities that have adopted so-called “sanctuary” policies to protect undocumented immigrants, threatening such repercussions as stepped-up raids and withheld law enforcement grants. California and other states have responded to some of those threats with lawsuits.

Gov. Brown has staunchly defended Senate Bill 54, which would extend certain protections for immigrants statewide, as being well within California’s rights.

“This bill does not prevent or prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security from doing their own work in any way,” Brown wrote in his signing message last October. “They are free to use their own considerable resources to enforce federal immigration law in California.”

The final “sanctuary state” compromise brokered by Brown before its final passage largely exempts the state prison system from the new law. It allows ICE officers to question immigrants in county jails, although it prohibits them from holding permanent office space there. It permits information-sharing and coordination between federal and state law enforcement officers when the immigrant in question has been convicted of one of some 800 crimes within the past 15 years. It also makes an exception for suspects in serious crimes punishable with prison time for which a judge has found probable cause.

The California Police Chiefs’ Association, one of the groups organizing the event, took a neutral position on SB 54 after the last-minute amendments, while the more conservative sheriffs’ association opposed it.

California Attorney General Xavier Beccera, who has sued the Trump administration repeatedly over immigration, environmental and other matters, said he was not surprised by the lawsuit. “We’ve seen this B-rated movie before,” he said. “The arguments that the administration is making … demonstrate there’s nothing really new there that we aren’t already familiar with, so we’re prepared to deal with this.”

Chiu, who carried the bill to protect undocumented immigrant workers, said he was “disturbed,” but not surprised, by the lawsuit. Sessions, he said, “would do well to remember that his duty is to uphold the Constitution, and the Immigrant Worker Protection Act simply requires that ICE agents follow the Constitution.”

Some state lawmakers have criticized the peace officers’ association for inviting Sessions in the first place. But an association official who spoke to reporters afterward said it would be “foolish” for the group not to hear what he had to say.

“Attorney General Sessions is the top law enforcement officer in the United States of America,” said Neil Gallucci, the association’s second vice president, “and his opinion is certainly something we need to listen to and understand in California law enforcement.”

About the Author

Matt Murphy is the sports writer at The Daily Democrat and has been with the paper since August 2017. He graduated from Chico State with a B.A. in Journalism in 2015 and grew up in Woodland, attending Woodland High from 2007-2011. Matt loves all things sports but does not want to talk about your fantasy football league or the 2017 SF Giants. Reach the author at mmurphy@dailydemocrat.com
or follow Matt on Twitter: @woodlandsports.